26 Pursuit of Time Part One
by redcloudedleopard
Summary: Ronan starts from scratch - wanting to take down the Fantastic Four & their affiliates one by one. Rounding up Diablo for help, the two villains access Johnny's past with hopes of capturing him nice & easy.
1. Kreepy

Hearing monologue-ing voices may have been rife in the superhero prison, the Vault, but the extra alertness of the guards was in no way feigned when they checked on Diablo's cell. In place of he may've well been chanting an alchemistic spell to break himself free with the elements.

It was about 10.00PM: the guards had just begun their change in shifts for the late night. The one keeping watch on the alchemist began his descent to the ground floor.

"_Esteban De Ablo…" _

Diablo, distraught, snapped out of a reverie bothering him. Whoever said his full name wasn't some ubiquitous voice in the head that serious mental health patients listened to. "Who calls me by a name I do not want to hear?" he mumbled.

The prison lights were dimming down, some extractor & ventilation fans were turned off. The resulting quiet was perfect - for a little chat between two foes of the FF. With that, sparkles of white filled the whole cell, light reflecting off the thick glass perimeter like diamonds. Soon a familiar face appeared that boasted a vapid smile.

Diablo shivered to a halt, "YOU!" He pointed his finger, freezing it in place, "If not for your masquerading in that _cursed_ Contest, I would not have been rewarded with such SHAME!"

Ronan sensed the riptide of tension in the cell's confinement, "Silence, YOU -" Unexpectedly he cleared his throat, "Forgive me for parading myself in the Contest of Champions. Better to be lowly in spirit and among the oppressed than to share plunder with the proud." His sentence held a strange twist.

"I demand that you leave this instant, or I'll -" The alchemist wanted his fury to evaporate; to bore it into the Kree.

"I am here to do you a favour, Diablo…to set you free from this little cage. But no doubt: it comes at a price, my quizzical friend." The Accuser caressed the weapon he always carried.

The alchemist's eyelids fluttered once or twice in his feeling of wonder. "Go on."

"We share common enemies. At least _six_ of them, for that matter. However, I work in small steps conforming to a bigger strategy," Ronan said. A momentary pause preceded his big question, "Would you be interested in a combined effort to capture the Human Torch?"

* * *

_Meanwhile…_

"Annihilus?"

"Check."

"Attuma?"

"I've checked the Atlantean prisons. Check."

"Diablo's the last one. Come on."

Sue & Azula paced their way to the nearest elevator; this was Azula's first visit to the Vault & Sue was more than happy to show her around (& poke fun at the captured baddies whenever there was a chance). Azula passed her eye around the countless glass fibre cells on both the left & right, which practically coated the walls. Each cell was shrouded in warm blue rays of light.

"You really think we'll have that many supervillains to box away?" she questioned, exuding a curiosity.

"Well…we can't know for sure."

The second they stopped in front of the lift doors, an alarm cascade broke through the still air. Every nerve attuned to anticipate sudden events, Sue created a platform for them both to hover on. Then they rose up, surveying storey by storey of the place. They couldn't quite pinpoint the floor with the most commotion, until a panicky guard with iron-grey hair signaled, "Invisible Woman, Blue Dragon! It's Diablo - he has a visitor!" He motioned with a skittery rabbit energy. A loud blast sounded down the corridor…followed by all-too-recognizable cackling.

"We'll take care of it," Sue smiled. Rapidly she trapped the thick dust & smoke emanating from the cell up ahead in a force field, before moving the large bubble aside. "Him AGAIN?" Azula gasped, annoyance & surprise mixing together in her voice.

"We meet again, humans," Ronan looked her in the eye.

Sue stood tough as nails, "What brought you back _again_ so quickly, Ronan?"

"I've come only to 'borrow' a fellow Earth dweller of yours, as I require an accomplice to help me complete a task I have left long unfulfilled."

"What task? No, don't tell me: is it my brother again?" Sue was tempted to slap her forehead.

"You are only half correct," Diablo joined his new acquaintance. His eyes glowed, indicating he'd use his alchemy any minute to stir up trouble. Ronan answered, "_You_ - all six of you - are nothing but a nuisance to the Kree empire! I am driven with every breath…to do nothing but make each of you pay! However, as you were quick to mention the Human Torch…"

"Don't say it," warned Azula.

"Try bringing _us_ down before you get to any one of our teammates," Sue challenged boldly in a tone of steel.

"Very well. I might as well start by destroying you two in advance." The Accuser fired up his staff with the sparks starting to crackle around its tip. "That depends on how you look at it," Azula narrowed her gaze. She next shaped her left fist into a knife & launched. Her blast & Ronan's energy wave cancelled each other out, the bright blue & blinding yellow melting into thin air. The Kree threw his weapon at deadly speed but she was a millisecond early from letting it wheel mid-air into her.

Sue seized the opening to push the alchemist backward using an unseen force wave. The ripples of force had a powerful impact on Diablo, making him lose part of his focus. Out of nowhere his Earth potion chalice appeared, he summoned it to do something nasty...

A rumbling from the earth's belly drummed up into everyone's ears. Sue cringed - the soil was unbelievably cold. It felt like how the smell of earth rose up to meet her on a rainy evening, except it was far worse. Beholding the gigantic fist made out of soil in front of her, she struggled to get up. Diablo chortled louder than ever, given the sudden surge of adrenaline & power he mustered after letting his bored mind eat itself up slowly in the cell. Sue wrapped the shaped soil in a force casing. That was when Azula sprung to take out two birds with a stone.

"Sue, turn it off!" she instructed.

After Sue did what she asked, the Blue Dragon balanced herself on one leg before releasing high-speed twin flames from one fist & her free leg. One stunned Ronan with concussive force while the second blew the soil fist to smithereens. Just then, Sue sent two invisible boomerangs into each villain. As a preparatory move for later, she put a field around them too.

"Let's not waste what time we have left, Diablo. We shall make our exit," Ronan ordered & indirectly admitted defeat.

"The boy is ours, then," the alchemist added.

Sue barked, her hands working to tighten the force field, "Oh, we're far from done, Ronan! Leave our friends & my brother alone. Or else _we'll_ strike back."

"By then, you'd be too short on…_time_…to save him," the Accuser half whispered. The back of his sleeve flashed green suddenly. Neither of the heroines saw it coming: their opponents making use of Kree technology to whisk themselves out of there. Following a growing light enveloping Ronan & Diablo, only the wreckage of the Earth potion's power remained.

"That was KREE-PY…," disappointment thoroughly overtook Azula.

Sue had mutual feelings, "We need to call Reed." She fingered her waist area, & sighed. Where a belt-like device had once been, she felt no trace of the piece of equipment left on her. The new "Kronotracker" that Reed had completed the same day was now missing. She wondered if he had at least one extra prototype.


	2. Babynapped

"Ben, where's Hotshot?" enquired Azula immediately after they returned. She paced around the kitchen counter.

He gave a jolly reply, "The kid? I dunno. Dr. O was talkin' to him about spiritual stuff an hour ago. Haven't seen 'em since." She didn't acknowledge that, but he continued, "Anyway…you give any of 'em naughty Vault kids a good ole fashioned spankin'?"

"Nuh-uh. What happened was the opposite," she was close to snorting.

Reed abruptly joined them, arms resting on the countertop, "Meaning -"

Azula sighed, "We got our butts whipped by Diablo -"

"& of all supervillains, Ronan. _Again_," Sue sounded so sarcastic that people would've thought she meant it. But no recurring villain was ever called a boon to superheroes.

"He he, I thought it'd be easy as pie," came Ben's light laughter. Everyone else felt pinpricked, & the upstairs hangar beckoned them to retreat there for lessons &/or fundamentals on time travel.

"Reed, I think you would find this interesting: Ronan simply teleported himself & Diablo out of the prison. It's really quite a brilliant, never-before-seen escape plan," Sue explained.

Azula was quick to intercede, "Yeah, & he's never done that before when fighting us."

"Time…time…" Sue's eyes were on the ground for more than a mere while.

Ben asked in amusement, "Whatcha goin' on about there, Suzy Q?"

"_Time_!" Sue spoke in breaths, "Reed, what are the odds that the Kree empire can utilize time travel?"

The only scientist in the room rambled on, "Very likely indeed. I'm constantly fascinated by the possible coincidence that they mirror the Roman culture, & so much more than just that." "Uhuh," his best bud cut in. He sensed he was being robbed of attention.

"Reed, you've been updating your time machine, right? I remember you explaining about tracking…errrr…energy signatures left behind by other time machines," Azula wished to clarify.

"Yes. I've been working on such a feature in case…" Pin-drop silence lasted a few moments. "Doom…attempts to distort another timeline." Reed yearned to rid himself of the foreign, soapy-tasting name behind his lips.

Ben rushed it, "Maybe we could use that little upgrade to track down Ronan & Diablo."

"This is an incredible opportunity to test the feature," said Reed.

Sue muttered in fragments, "Erm…Reed? There's another problem I have to address," she was coy. "I kinda lost the Kronotracker you gave me in the fight."

It was like Reed hadn't heard her speak. "Oh, what? Uhh, right. That's okay, Susan. I have overridden the functions of the device you were holding. I should be able to operate the machine manually from this computer, once it is transported through the time vortex. If I can somehow get hold of Ronan's energy signature, I can lead the time machine to the timeline he is currently in. The outcome of the test should be good enough to locate Ronan because the device was absorbed into the vortex with him.

"H.E.R.B.I.E., scan all traversed timestreams using manual control for Kronotracker unit _prime_."

"Okie doke!" H.E.R.B.I.E. yipped.

Azula had just noticed that Reed was also attaching the time machine to the Fantasticar. "Then let's get moving!" she voiced out. "If you know what I mean, time travel isn't something you can just sit & watch."

"I couldn't agree more. I'd take this test as the real deal," Sue chased after her, as if racing to see who'd get into their Fantasticar cockpit first. After all, Johnny did say in the past that Azula was free to sit in his place if she wanted to. Both of them strapped on their temporal stasis devices that were already in the vehicle.

Reed held back a chortle, but was glued to his PDA & the special glasses he had on, "Both of you, hold on a second. I need to facilitate the sequencing of the -"

Azula had tapped a random button; the innards of the time machine got down to work. H.E.R.B.I.E. secretly failed to supply Reed with the earliest info that the machine was about to enter the vortex…

"Intriguing," was all Reed uttered when he realized the contraption (with its two passengers inside) vanished. Ben's jaw had dropped, but Mister Fantastic kept his cool as he was in full control of the machine. It was now on the pathway to a year long left behind - nineteen years back on a frosty night of Halloween.

* * *

The age where happiness overflowed in the form of mirth. Leaves apple green & mango yellow. "This is the place where I first played peek-a-boo with my baby brother." The precious mental image of Johnny's little red pram was safe-locked in her mind. The precious sound of his bright bell-like baby laughter was also stored intact. "& the first time he ever pulled my hair," she chuckled. It was a scarcity that people remembered such minute details, but this showed how strong Sue's love for her sibling was.

"It doesn't look like Central Park...," Azula scratched her head. Maybe the light snowfall made the place less recognizable.

"That's because it isn't. You're now walking through Glenville town's most famous park." Sue let out a sigh, "There're so many memories…" She recalled how she'd learnt after getting her hair pulled that hairs have roots - just like the park trees did. Her father had shared with her a gist of his field in medicine whilst she helped wheel her brother's pram home.

"I told Johnny he can talk to me or my dad anytime. Same goes for you," Azula shouldered her. Sue's uplifting smile greeted her in return.

They passed quiet streets where few people hung out. Soon Sue's head was clogged with negative retrospections, thus she made conversation, "We've got to find Ronan & Diablo, fast. I know the best place to start -" They turned a blind corner into a long, slightly sloped road lined with houses of muted tones. "I could show you around our old neighbourhood.."

"Hold that thought!" Azula abruptly lugged her backward. As distracting as the thin snow blankets & Halloween lights around them were, two rather colourful figures stood out. They were approaching a doorstep Sue knew all too well. She gasped, "They've found our house! They're gonna break in & kidnap Johnny!"

Painful silence ensued before at last Mary Storm answered the banging on the door, "Aren't you boys a little old for trick or treat?" Most unfortunately she was carrying her infant son at that time: Ronan treasured the opportunity, & snatched the adorable baby by the thick collar of his pale blue clothing.

"Stay where you are!" Diablo threatened with an open palm. A young four-year-old Sue & her father Franklin had rushed to see what was happening. Hurriedly Diablo dealt the three family members a blast of air using his silvery potion: & sent them hurtling onto the wooden floor. "My elemental shields should hold you in place long enough," snickered the alchemist before he blocked the house entrance with a wall of fire.

"Excellent, Diablo." Ronan's cackling began, "Now we have here in our care…_Jonathan Spencer Storm _- in a most helpless form." He laughed because of how his sentences came to rhyme. He tightly held Johnny but took care not to crush him with his strength. At least, not yet.

"Hmmmm…he does not seem to wield the fire elemental," Diablo interjected. "The boy is nothing but a mere infant!" He was studying the boy a little closely - his blue eyes were beady; he'd been smiling earlier until Ronan grabbed him. The alchemist humorously remembered that Johnny had sideburns. The baby had a tiny strand of hair grown down the each side of his sweet face, in front of the ears. The hair covering his little head was a little spiky. Furthermore his thin soft brows were of a much darker colour compared to platinum blonde.

There wasn't much sympathy though..when Johnny started wailing, shedding a tear or two. He hadn't been intimidated into anything like this before.

"That is NOT of my concern. In fact, it will make it easier to finish him off!" Ronan argued back.

A voice behind them interrupted, "I wouldn't wanna know _how_ they could obtain a house address…" It was Azula. Ronan had actually stolen Kree technology from the Empire following his defeat in the Contest. After all, he was still banished but ravenous for the reclaiming of his good reputation as Public Accuser. His findings included the abilities of teleportation, time travel, even a memory scanner he had used on Sue during the prison battle. From her thoughts he could simply trace the place where she lived as a child.

Sue's sharp hearing captured the panicky words of her mother - from behind the thick flames blocking off the front door - "What have we ever done to make you do this?" Then her dad's fierce tone, _"We're calling the cops!"_ She heard the sound of a crying baby & instantly, a violent love in her innards was triggered. Though it was funny at first (with villains time travelling just to catch a little kid), Ronan would easily wipe out the family she clung to as a bonus.

"Get away from them! Both of you!" she commanded. There was so much vehemence in her disapproval of Ronan & Diablo. The two were wrapped in a thick shield each & lifted up in the air. But Diablo initiated a Water Potion attack in the form of a wave. A large wave poured out of a chalice lying on the ground & swept Sue back.

"I'm dreaming! I'm dreaming!" cried young Sue behind the fire barrier. In tears, she ran upstairs for cover while Franklin remained at Mary's side. They watched for anything worse & hoped for the arrival of the police any minute. Neighbours were poking their heads out their front doors but too fearful to step in to help.


	3. Almost

Ronan took no notice of the inordinate number of people watching, "Perfect timing, you two. Now we can eliminate you three in a single fight!" He turned to face the two heroines, Diablo flanking him. The baby being held in his left arm looked around with most teary eyes.

"Awwwww, he's so cute!" exclaimed Azula. She wanted to punish herself for not delving into Johnny's room…she may've stumbled upon some baby photos way before this. Baby Johnny's sobs softened to muffled noises; his captor held him close to his body & was about to wave his staff with his aim locked on the Blue Dragon.

"Trick or treat?" a party of youths approached Ronan. They weren't aware they'd trudged onto a minefield. Every one of them wore warlock & witch costumes complete with heavy, smudgy makeup.

"DO YOU MIND?" the villain snapped brashly to scare them off.

Following that little distraction, Sue looked at the Kree with racing adrenaline, "Tell me how you can justify the robbing of a child from his family." Her hardened eyes were perpetually holding his.

"For someone who chooses wise words, dealing with two unstoppable foes is rather absurd," laughed the Accuser.

"We're not going anywhere. Cliché as it sounds, stay away from the people & give back my brother."

Diablo paced around them & hissed, "That will not happen. We've come all this way to be rid of this _little child_." The following second elapsed & he struck again with water. Azula jumped in front of Sue, who'd just picked herself up, & changed the water into quickly evaporating steam by the action of her crescent flame shield. Except she was a little drenched. "Rsssppp!" she spat out some water & corrected her hair.

"Thanks," Sue grabbed at the chance. Ronan wanted to lash out at her next, only she intelligently angled her body so that her force field plate would reflect his beam at Diablo.

"Watch it, you fool!" yelled the frustrated alchemist, after he'd clumsily dodged the blast. "Don't just stand there, FINISH THEM!" the Accuser bawled.

"Azula! Now!" barked Sue. She rendered herself invisible for the time being, for she required a good interval to knit together a plan. Azula kept her distance from Diablo & fired a long-range blast; her adversary conjured up a fire shield of his own but was too slow. The Blue Dragon's flame force was so immense that he flew backward against a tree trunk!

Sue had reappeared on one of the stairwells of the opposite apartment block. The elevation would reward her with a better aim at the villains. She helped Azula up to where she was using a levitating platform she formed under Azula's feet.

"I have an idea. You take Diablo out while I go for Ronan," the Invisible Woman advised.

"Just be careful not to hit little Hotshot!" her friend cheekily smirked.

"Don't worry!" Sue's following move: restraining Ronan's movement & attempting to free her brother in the process. Of course, she was no stranger to the fact he might willfully act against her inclinations. Yet she tried, making a rope out of unseen cords that wrapped around Ronan's other arm. But he was induced him to gather his strength - with that same arm he pulled hard to loosen the rope. Then he surprised her by throwing his weapon powerfully at one of the stairwell's poles. The pole snapped in half.

Diablo had just mustered all the power stored in his four potions. Out of his chalices appeared four beast-like forms of the elements. Soon enough, they chased after their target who cartwheeled, ran & leapt to evade them. Azula didn't think of a backup plan less than incessantly. Luckily for her a truck moving in Diablo's direction distracted him from working his spells; the alchemist lost his concentration & halted the vehicle with an Earth potion attack. The truck driver, terrified, hopped out of his ride & made a run for it.

Some plucky, somewhat explicit youngsters from the neighbourhood homes were rooting for the Blue Dragon - they snatched up some of the large Halloween pumpkins strewn about the pavement & pelted Diablo! He became flustered, & sent his Fire 'beast' straight at them. Thankfully the kids were quick to duck & avoid being fried.

Ronan had wrecked the stairwell Sue stood on, & she hovered over to the nearest street lamp pole for support. Her focus flashed to the chalices floating above Diablo. Down below Azula had had it with the display of alchemistic magic tricks. Thinking it foolish that she hadn't destroyed the chalices at the start, she lithely rushed past the fire & wind 'beasts', sliding skillfully, & unleashed her _fiery slice_ move. That damaged two out of the four chalices. Sue, as if by automatic function, destroyed the remaining two with a couple of invisible discs. Hilariously, Azula approached a cowering Diablo & brought him down with one pressure point hit.

As the chalices were destroyed, all four of the elemental monsters exploded into dust. It was such a huge blast that Ronan toppled over with Johnny hurtling through the air. Azula caught him in the fall, right on timing.

Ronan fumbled for his footing, staff in hand & ready to tussle some more. Sue landed in front of him to protect Azula, Johnny & her family. "Hey, catch!" someone tossed her a strong sturdy pole used as a Halloween decoration. She & the Accuser began to spar with their weapons. Ronan may've been brawny, but Sue's powers granted her the upper hand. Each time her opponent delivered a blow, her force field would make his staff bounce off. To end the battle she opened the palm of her free hand & launched a pulse toward his chest. He stumbled back, losing balance & at last falling down on his behind beside Diablo.

"We're leaving," Ronan activated his time-dancing mechanism, "But mark my words..it won't be too long before we encounter you again." The supervillains were wrapped in light, & disappeared.

Azula eyed the sweet little face before her, & traced the little details such as his lively blue eyes & heart-melting smile. She stroked his hair just like she now liked doing whenever her boyfriend thought of sad things. Baby Johnny laughed & reached out to feel her cheek_. You've been a hottie since you were little,_ she thought.

"Oh sweetie you're okay!" his mother scooted over. "Thank you for rescuing him," she lifted him out of her arms. The baby made a jolly sound & looked at Mary in a way that couldn't be described. Azula was inwardly moved; perhaps Johnny's bond with his mom was like no other mother-son relationship. "Don't mention it," she grinned. But her heart held deep sympathy for how the Human Torch coped all these years.

Mary cheerfully went on, "I know the stuntmen in Chinatown can play with fire, but I've never seen anything like what you can do. How can we repay you, uhh -"

"Azula," the Blue Dragon shook her hand. She told her, "Don't. Just keep Johnny safe."

"_You know his name?"_

"Mrs. Storm, I know this will sound crazy but - we're kinda from the future. To be exact, nineteen years ahead." She crafted a dragon-shaped flame to entertain the baby, who rolled jolly noises in his mouth whilst trying to catch it.

Sue & Johnny's father walked over to meet her, "You knew this would happen?" His tone was friendly & light.

"Technically, yes." In Azula's opinion, Franklin Storm was indeed rewarded by rugged good looks. She was facing him, sort of studying his facial features. She was a little astonished to discover how Johnny truly looked like his dad. Franklin had spiky hair at the sides of his head like his son did. The eyebrows, irises, even the expression, matched Johnny's. "Who's that? I heard her say 'my brother'..," he suddenly pointed to Sue who stood opposite them, a few feet away. Her countenance was pretty tensed up, like there was some tumult going on in her mind.

Young Sue had also come out the house. She shyly tugged at Frankin's coat (which gave him a very becoming appearance), "Daddy, I wanna be like her when I grow up." She was actually pointing to the older version of herself standing nearby. Sue had forgotten to breathe, touched by the little child she tried not to look at. It was like beholding a mirror but scarier. Surprisingly the world didn't implode, as Reed said would happen if you saw yourself in another timeline.

"Honey, if they're both from the future, is that -?" Mary said, turning slowly to the strange, _familiar_ woman who was unknowingly her eldest child. That woman reluctantly smiled, half frozen upon realizing the power of a mother's instinct.

"I'm sorry. We're leaving," the Blue Dragon rushed her speech. But a beckoning little voice called to her. "He likes you," Johnny's mom expressed in warmth. Unable to resist crouching to pick up the little infant who crawled up to her, Azula gently squeezed him in an embrace. "I'll see you again…," she whispered to him. Something stirred her to grab Sue & walk her away from this place.

While they made a lightning fast turn around the block, sirens belonging to none other than the police wafted to them. Sometimes you couldn't take the risks & laws of time travelling too lightly. They were back in the park, on their way to the time machine hidden by shadows & shrubbery at the edge of the area & next to a warehouse.

"Was it hard? Seeing the faces of your parents?" queried Azula, strapping herself for the ride home.

"Yeah. It really was," Sue croaked.

"I understand."

"Wait a minute - if all those people saw what happened, wouldn't it somehow alter the _histories_ of each of our lives?" Sue nearly hyperventilated.

"That's why I invented the built-in neuralizers in our suits, Susan," Reed's voice suddenly broke through the comm systems. He'd been monitoring them all the while.

Sue questioned, "The what?"

"The neuralizers will wipe any witnesses' memories of what they have seen, Johnny included. Their minds were set to revert to whatever actions or activities they were doing before you made your appearance. The devices are activated at the exact moment the time machine arrives at its destination." Reed was reassuring them that history wouldn't actually be altered, despite what Ronan & Diablo tried doing.

"Real sweet, Reed. We owe you one," chuckled Azula. Reed asked about the missing Kronotracker that they hadn't sighted; fortunately he replied that he didn't need it. More than ever the Blue Dragon was excited to see the older Johnny that'd greet her with the same face she wouldn't grow tired of.

Sue kept quiet all the way, but it was understandable why she lagged behind. In her own small world she was mending & braiding together a scar from years past.


End file.
